Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Australian Research Council of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, Australia.
Elife. 2019 Jan 16;8:e40766. doi: 10.7554/eLife.40766.
Our ability to rapidly detect threats is thought to be subserved by a subcortical pathway that quickly conveys visual information to the amygdala. This neural shortcut has been demonstrated in animals but has rarely been shown in the human brain. Importantly, it remains unclear whether such a pathway might influence neural activity and behavior. We conducted a multimodal neuroimaging study of 622 participants from the Human Connectome Project. We applied probabilistic tractography to diffusion-weighted images, reconstructing a subcortical pathway to the amygdala from the superior colliculus via the pulvinar. We then computationally modeled the flow of haemodynamic activity during a face-viewing task and found evidence for a functionally afferent pulvinar-amygdala pathway. Critically, individuals with greater fibre density in this pathway also had stronger dynamic coupling and enhanced fearful face recognition. Our findings provide converging evidence for the recruitment of an afferent subcortical pulvinar connection to the amygdala that facilitates fear recognition.
This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that minor issues remain unresolved (see decision letter).
据认为，我们快速检测威胁的能力依赖于一条将视觉信息快速传递到杏仁核的皮质下通路。这种神经捷径在动物中已经得到证实，但在人类大脑中很少见到。重要的是，目前尚不清楚这样的通路是否会影响神经活动和行为。我们对来自人类连接体计划的 622 名参与者进行了一项多模态神经影像学研究。我们应用概率追踪技术对弥散加权图像进行分析，从上丘通过丘脑枕重建到杏仁核的皮质下通路。然后，我们通过计算模型对面孔观察任务期间的血流动力学活动进行建模，并发现了功能上的丘脑枕-杏仁核通路的证据。关键的是，在这条通路上纤维密度更大的个体也具有更强的动态耦合和增强的恐惧面孔识别能力。我们的研究结果为招募到杏仁核的传入性皮质下丘脑枕连接提供了有力的证据，该连接有助于恐惧识别。
本文经过了编辑过程，作者在其中决定如何回应同行评审期间提出的问题。审稿人的评估是，一些小问题仍然没有得到解决（见评审意见）。
